City, township voters face separate tax questions

Voters in both Plymouth and Plymouth Township will head to the polls on Tuesday to decide separate public safety tax questions.

In the township, officials are asking voters to renew two longstanding public safety millages that total 2.1979 mills, or not quite $2.20 for every $1,000 of a property’s taxable value. The taxes currently raise about $3.7 million a year, accounting for about 40 percent of the township’s total public safety budget of nearly $8.9 million.

The township proposals would simply continue existing taxes.

In the city, voters will decide whether to adopt Plymouth’s first dedicated public safety millage, a tax of up to 1.5 mills, or $1.50 for every $1,000 of a property’s taxable value. The public safety tax would raise an estimated $708,000 a year if the entire millage is levied.

City officials, citing belt-tightening and workforce reductions in recent years, say they would use the money to pay for more police officers, address outstanding legacy costs from the former Plymouth Community Fire Department, and save for long-term capital needs. The Plymouth Police Department recently hired a 16th officer after years of having 15 officers, and the new revenue, if approved, would pay for a 17th.

Polling places in both communities will open Tuesday starting at 7 a.m. and will close at 8 p.m.

Township renewals

The township tax proposals are renewals of taxes that currently cost not quite $220 a year for the owners of a home with a taxable value of $100,000. The 2.1979 dedicated public safety mills currently make up more than half of the township’s total tax rate of 4 mills, the lowest of any community in Wayne County.

The millages are expiring at the end of this year, and voter approval is needed for officials to collect the taxes in 2016 and beyond.

The township’s public safety budget for 2015, through the township’s general fund, includes more than $3.9 million for the police department, $1.16 million for emergency dispatch and more than $3.8 million for the fire department.

As of Friday afternoon, according to township clerk Nancy Conzelman, 3,231 absentee ballots had been issued for the election and 2,456 had been returned. Most, she said, came from people on the township’s permanent absentee voter list of about 4,000 people.

New city tax

In the city, the 1.5-mill tax, if approved, would cost $150 a year for the owners of a home with a $100,000 taxable value – if the entire millage is levied. The city’s current total tax rate is just over 16 mills.

The city’s annual public safety budget is just over $4.24 million – nearly $3.45 million for the police department and nearly $800,000 for the fire department.

City Clerk Linda Langmesser said Friday afternoon that 613 absentee ballots had been issued for the election, and 419 of those returned.